India Becomes Second Country to End Testing on Animals for Household Products

This announcement joins a wealth of good news coming from India recently in regards to animal testing. In June 2013, India joined the European Union on an all out ban of animal testing for cosmetics. A few months later, in December, they announced their plans to ban animal testing on all imported cosmetics as well. Now, India is banning animal testing for household products!

The decision came about after much pressure from PETA and specifically PETA India’s Science Policy Adviser, Dr. Chaitanya Koduri.

According to a PETA press release, “The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) committee responsible for determining testing requirements for household products … decided in a meeting today to replace a skin sensitization test — which is currently performed by rubbing harsh chemicals into guinea pigs’ shaved skin — with non-animal testing methods followed by human skin patch tests. This move will end all animal poisoning test requirements for cleaners, detergents and other common household products in India.”

Such a test seems out of date for the 21st century, and we are so happy to know that India is taking the more humane step. PETA also explained that this decision “makes India the second country, following Israel, to end tests on animals for household products.”

India is setting the stage for how a seemingly smooth transition to animal-free testing methods can be accomplished. We applaud the Bureau of Indian Standards committee and the work of PETA for making this transition a reality. Let’s hope that many more countries follow in their footsteps!

Image Source: Michael James/Flickr